World IN BRIEF : CUBA : Warning Is Issued After Asylum Bids

Cuba told foreign ambassadors that it would not accept attempts to leave the island by Cubans who sought political asylum at foreign embassies in Havana. The warning followed asylum bids by groups of Cubans at the Mexican and Brazilian embassies. Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said 11 Cubans had entered the country’s embassy asking for passage to Mexico and were refusing to leave the embassy. A similar bid by four Cubans at the Brazilian Embassy failed after the ambassador turned down their request for political asylum, a Brazilian spokesman said. The four then left peacefully, he added.